Well, I didn't enter my quilts to be judged at our guild show, and I STILL managed to pick up a ribbon! Yee haw!
One of my friends entered a quilt we did together (she pieced, I quilted and embellished, she bound it), and it got a 2nd place in innovative wall quilts and a Judge's Choice. The funny thing was I didn't realize it at first, because when I was reading the list of winners posted at the start of the show, the second winner for Judge's Choice was another good friend -- I was so excited for her that I stopped reading and didn't get to the next name, MINE! LOL
(When the other winner showed up, she didn't even read the list because she was sure she hadn't won anything. She thought we were playing a practical joke on her until we physically dragged her over to her quilt and showed her the ribbon. Her face was priceless!)